The Darkening Horizons of War: Blood and Steel
by serene-fire
Summary: This is the tale of a civilian girl who is forced to leave her home during the war. How will she fend for herself? Will she ever see her mother and father again? And when will the war stop? Read on to find out. FE: 8; the Sacred Stones, FE 7 cross ov


THE DARKENING HORIZONS OF WAR; BLOOD AND STEEL.

I heard screams all around me, the terrified wailing's of babies being ripped from their mother's arms, the shrieks of women who were to be slain by the ruthless hands of the merciless soldiers, the yells of men as they fought the enemy , the ringing clash of swords and shields as they connected.

I crept behind a bush - the bush, where I and my friends used to play together, I watched the sun sink lower into the violet sky, turning itself red, a horrible reminder of the blood that dyed patches of the ground crimson, the sunlight glinting off the weapons, making them seem holy, not an inanimate object designed to give humans pain but like a staff that healed people. I smiled bitterly as I saw this. Both sides were struggling, they retreated, now was my chance to get away from the village, I hesitated, my mother , my father, I would probably never see them again. I stifled a sob, gulping down the tears until I felt a burning sensation in my throat and taking a deep breath, ran like an insane person through the battlefield, which once was home to the games of innocent children, the field was vast but I'm quite fast, my legs ached as I ran, my breath rasped in my throat, I inhaled deeply, taking in as much oxygen as I could, I needed to make it to the other side.

But then where? Where would I go? These questions echoed around my head, my heart beat faster in panic and worry but I just shook my head, I had to concentrate on surviving first, tomorrow would have to take care of itself.

I dodged an arrow on it's way to the enemy's heart, I heard a groan as it hit it's target, I didn't look but I knew that pools of blood would be spreading out around him, I dodged a javelin that had come hurtling my way, I carried on running, trying not to focus on the war, or how many people died on the battlefield, in front of me, a man clad in green armour was struck by a sword, he crashed to the ground, I zigzagged wildly, avoiding the various weapons that I got in the way of.

I stumbled upon a clearing, silently thanking the Everlasting that I was safe and praying that my people won, I sat down and inhaled deeply, the sun gave off a gentle kind of warmth, but it wasn't enough to eliminate the cold, pure air which caused me now to shiver and caused my cheeks to tingle pleasantly.

I looked around slowly, I should have checked if there was anyone around, there was a silent uneasiness about the place, something definitely didn't feel right, I tensed, maybe it was a wolf or a tiger, if so, then maybe staying still would make it think I was a tree and it'll leave me alone, my hand sought the knife in my tunic and grasped it tightly, I dared not make a sound, after some minutes, I slowly rose from the ground and crept forward, I heard a rustling sound, as though someone had carefully put his foot onto the leafy ground., I tensed again and slowly slid my knife out of my tunic.

Several tense minutes past slowly, I crept forward, the atmosphere grew tenser, I swung around, poised for attack, my knife held in front of me – and I met a blade, the clash rung in my ears, I looked at the brute in front of me, he was leering at me, how surprising!

" Well, well, what do we have here"? smirked the man

_" Well, what you have here is a human girl, but I suppose your brain is too small to comprehend that complicated fact"_ I thought, I didn't say this, though, because he'd probably strike me dead, if he understood me, that is, I just glared at him, the important thing was to not let them see I was afraid, I wasn't going to let them win the battle, whether emotionally or physically, they'll just take advantage of it, another bandit came to stand to join his comrade, for the sake of dishonour.

"What a pretty souvenir, for our time in the battlefield" grinned Idiot number 2.

"No need to be wasteful" smirked Idiot number 1,I clenched my teeth, I wasn't going to let them have me, I may have only a knife to defend myself but I wouldn't give up.

_Clash!_ My opponent's sword sliced through the air to be met by my knife, another sword came at me, but I dodged, sensing the other opponent behind me, I swung around to strike his chest and my 'sword' embedded itself into his skin but not deeply, just enough to give him a cut.

I drew my knife back, leaving my opponent bleeding, enraged by the wound that his ally had received, Dunderhead No.1 gave a roar like a winded rhinoceros and tried to strike me, I dodged again, but the other had recovered and had crept up behind me , he struck me, I gasped in agony as white hot pain traveled through my hip, I put my hand on the injury and felt something unpleasantly warm and sticky come away, I hadn't a vulnerary nor the time to use it, I tried to strike again but failed, I wasn't going to go down without a fight, I wasn't…

I felt another sword slice into my skin, I fell to the ground in a defeated heap, the last thing I heard wasn't their laughter.

The last thing I heard was the distant whinnying of a horse.


End file.
